U.S. athletes weigh in on Russia's gay rights issue

Russia%27s anti-gay legislation passed in June has led to protests in U.S.%2C Britain

Obama has rejected idea of a boycott for Sochi Games

Symmonds says he would dedicate a win to his gay and lesbian friends

MOSCOW – As gay rights activists clamor for a boycott of next year's Sochi Olympics to protest Russia's anti-gay law, the U.S. track and field stars competing in the IAAF World Championships know how such a drastic measure can harm athletes.

After all, they are competing in the same stadium where the 1980 Olympics were held while the U.S. team stayed at home. President Jimmy Carter led the boycott to take a stand against the Soviet Union's presence in Afghanistan.

"This is our livelihood," said Ryan Wilson, the 2013 U.S. champion in the 110-meter hurdles. "It's easy for people sitting behind desks to say, 'You guys should boycott.' Wait a second, I've been training 20 years to do this. Just because I don't like some part of a country's outlook on the world or their population, I'm supposed to take a backseat to a cause that probably isn't going to be nudged along by my gesture."

No U.S. athlete in Moscow has made any outward signs to show they object to the Russian law enacted in June that outlaws "homosexual propaganda," making public events that promote gay rights illegal.

Protests in the U.S. and Britain have brought attention to the issue as politicians have addressed the idea of a boycott — aimed at anti-gay legislation and Russia's decision to grant temporary asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden — in recent weeks.

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have ruled out a boycott of the Sochi Games, which are less than six months away.

"What gesture are we supposed to make that's really going to have an impact, wear a ribbon?" Wilson said. "There are worse things going on in the world. Our whole uniform could be filled with ribbons if we wanted to make a public gesture. Some legislation vs. mass genocide or child soldiers."

Before arriving in Moscow, 800-meter runner Nick Symmonds posted a blog in which he said that if he were in a race with a Russian athlete, "I will shake his hand, thank him for his country's generous hospitality, and then, after kicking his (butt) in the race, silently dedicate the win to my gay and lesbian friends back home."

Although Symmonds, who has campaigned for gay rights, said he wouldn't discuss the issue while in Russia "out of respect for the fact that I will be a guest in the host nation," he said Saturday that the response to his blog has been "almost overwhelmingly positive."

Symmonds said a few people "were a bit negative saying, it doesn't do you any good to silently celebrate your victories; it also doesn't do me any good to sit in a jail cell while people go out here and race for medals."

Now that he's in Moscow, he's concentrating on "running two laps as fast as I can and getting a medal for the United States of America." On Sunday, he advanced to the men's 800 final.

Although the International Olympic Committee says it has received reassurances from Russia that Olympic athletes and visitors to Sochi won't be affected by the law, President Jacques Rogge says there are uncertainties stemming from its English translation.

"We are waiting for final clarification before final judgment on these reassurances," he said Friday in Moscow.

USA Track and Field addressed the issue at a team meeting before the event, where chief public affairs officer Jill Geer said no athletes had any questions or concerns about the law.

"We've been assured by the IAAF that all athletes will compete safely and will have their safety in and around Moscow assured, which is always our No. 1 priority," Geer said. "As athletes they make their statements with their performances."

She also noted that as international athletes, they compete in many countries whose laws or social norms are significantly different from those in the U.S. "Whether it's human rights in one country or the rights of women in another, it's not unusual to be in an area where there are laws that they individually may disagree with."

Anton Kuznetsov, a 21-year-old Russian attending the meet, called Russian president Vladimir Putin "the Stalin of the 21st century" and said most of the new laws, including those involving Internet censorship, "are absolutely senseless."

He said people in Europe and the United States have been more vocal in their opposition of the law than Russians because "we don't have such an active community."

"For citizens of the USA, there's no other way to react on Russian laws, except for their external politics," he said, adding, "Russian government doesn't care much about what other people say."

U.S. athletes said they are letting their performances on the track and the field speak for them.

"We all have the same goal," said shot putter Tia Brooks. "We're here to compete in the world championships. I'm just here to focus on that and the other stuff will work itself out."

Ashley Higginson, a steeplechaser and second-year law student at Rutgers, said the athletes' performances are "evidence of our solidarity with our country.

"Those performances are defined by our abilities to train wherever we want, go to school wherever we want and do whatever we want, and that's everything from our sexual preference to our race -- and it's awesome."